Conveyor belts are fabricated in endless form by cutting a plurality of V-shaped fingers in each free end of the belt. The fingers are then interdigitated or spliced, and the spliced area is then fused by heat and pressure to provide the endless configuration.
Frequently it is necessary to replace a conveyor belt on the conveyor. As the belt may have a considerable length, perhaps 50 to 100 feet, and as the belt may be trained over a number of accessories and drive spindles, it is difficult to remove an existing belt and install a replacement belt on the conveyor. Instead, the common practice is to attach one end of the replacement belt to the existing belt, and as the existing belt is pulled through the conveyor, the replacement belt is drawn into the system. With the replacement belt drawn onto the conveyor, V-shaped fingers are then cut into the free ends of the replacement belt and spliced together to provide the endless configuration.
During operation of a conveyor, the belt may stretch beyond a length that can be accommodated by a normal belt tensioning system. To shorten the belt, the belt is severed, and fingers are cut in the free ends of the belt and spliced together to provide the endless configuration of the desired shortened length.
Various types of machines have been used in the past to cut the fingers in the belt end. In many cases, these machines are large and heavy and are not portable, so that they cannot be used to cut the belt ends on the conveyor itself. Thus, there has been a need for a lightweight, compact belt cutting device that can be used on the conveyor to cut the belt for splicing.